Springer should inspire protection

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

Published 10:00 pm, Friday, July 19, 2002

Springer's now-excellent adventure has featured enough excitement to inspire everyone from scientists to ordinary citizens. The orphaned orca has brought out the best in people here and in British Columbia.

She has also reminded Washingtonians of the need to care for a spectacular environment.

The human intervention to help Springer has gone as well as or better than anyone could have expected. The hard-luck killer whale seems to have been blessed with nothing but good fortune since the moment the National Marine Fisheries Service decided that her health justified a "high-risk" plan to take action.

Her capture went smoothly. She responded well to medical treatment while being kept near Manchester on the Kitsap Peninsula. The 13-hour trip back to her home waters in Canada was something of a cruise, thanks in part to a Whidbey Island boat-building firm's donation of a high-speed catamaran to transport her.

Her quick reunion with relatives in a pod in Canadian waters brought elation on the scene and around Puget Sound.

The rescued orca still faces challenges. Her potentially dangerous habit of visiting boats remains in evidence.

Springer -- or A-73, as she is designated by scientists -- also appears to need a bit of old-fashioned exercise. But her physical stamina apparently should return after some time in the wild.

Before her rescue, the region engaged in a fair debate about the expense, estimated beforehand at $500,000. Those questions may need more attention if success with Springer leads to other rescues .

On a larger scale, though, the funding question is a good one, since it arises out of success.

For all the important environmental questions surrounding the future of orcas in the Sound, moreover, the region has come a long way in its treatment of them. Springer's human-aided trip home provides a remarkable contrast to the roundups of orcas -- for display in marine parks -- that blighted the Sound until 1976. A Washington state lawsuit helped stop the practice.

Orcas still face plenty of environmental threats and a questionable future. But Springer's return to British Columbia showed how deeply people care about orcas. The inspiration from Springer should help motivate further efforts to protect orcas and Washington's inland waters.